The PCT is an
international treaty with more than 145 Contracting States. The PCT makes it
possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a large
number of countries by filing a single “international” patent application
instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications.
The granting of patents remains under the control of the national or regional
patent Offices in what is called the “national phase”.

The PCT Systemhas many advantages
for you as an applicant, for the patent Offices and for the general public:

You have up to 18 months
more than if you had not used the PCT to reflect on the desirability of seeking
protection in foreign countries, to appoint local patent agents in each foreign
country, to prepare the necessary translations and to pay the national fees;

If your international
application is in the form prescribed by the PCT, it cannot be rejected on
formal grounds by any PCT Contracting State patent Office during the national
phase of the processing of the application;

The international search
report and written opinion contain important information about the potential
patentability of your invention, providing a strong basis for you to make
business decisions about how to proceed;

You have the possibility
during the optional international preliminary examination to amend the
international application, enter into dialogue with the examiner to fully argue
your case and put the application in order before processing by the various
national patent Offices;

The search and
examination work of patent Offices in the national phase can be considerably
reduced thanks to the international search report, the written opinion and,
where applicable, the international preliminary report on patentability that
accompany the international application;

You may be able to
fast-track examination procedures in the national phase in Contracting States
that have PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH) agreements or similar
arrangements;

Since each international
application is published together with an international search report, third
parties are in a better position to evaluate the potential patentability of the
claimed invention;

For you as an applicant,
international publication online puts the world on notice of your invention.
You may also highlight your interest in concluding licensing agreements on
PATENTSCOPE, which can be an effective means of advertising and looking for
potential licensees;

You also achieve other
savings in document preparation, communication and translations because the
work done during the international processing is generally not repeated before
each Office (for example, you submit only one copy of the priority document
instead of having to submit several copies); and

If your invention
appears to be not patentable at the end of the international phase, you may
abandon the PCT application and you will have saved the costs you would
otherwise have incurred by directly seeking protection in foreign countries,
appointing local patent agents in each foreign country, preparing the necessary
translations and paying the national fees.